The Japanese Coast Guard might have the U.S. Coast Guard beat in at least one respect: choreography. In this amazing video posted on YouTube, you can witness Japanese Coast Guardsmen dressed like school girls performing a flawlessly executed dance routine during sea and anchor detail. Prove the world wrong, U.S. Coast Guard. Let’s see some response videos. Observe: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_ULNif9bg8[/youtube] Those Japanese maritime types sure know how to make the military fun for the whole family.
Browsing: Foreign navies
The Japanese destroyer JS Kirishima shot down a medium-range ballistic missile during a joint exercise with the Navy. Read about it here.
The French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle has been sidelined with a major engineering casualty until at least Christmas, and the time could not be worse for Great Britain, according to the Telegraph. With the U.K.’s only carrier Ark Royal scrapped, the two historic rivals were expected this week to announce a partnership that would in some way share the French carrier with Great Britain. The Telegraph reports: “This is a carrier which is meant to be defending not only France but also Britain over the next decade. As far as the London summit is concerned, her breaking down could…
Chinese Navy soldiers attend a ceremony to see off the missile destroyer Shenzhen on a dock of Zhanjiang, southeast China, in 2007. // AP Photo via Xinhua’s Zha Chunming The inevitable march towards doomsday continues for U.S. dominance of the high seas, according to a growing chorus of critics who say China’s aggressive stance on territorial claims in Asia threatens to file down the teeth of the Global Force for Good. It’s rather a trendy opinion to hold these days, especially with all the clamor over China’s George Washington-neutralizing mega power missile. Add Christian Science Monitor columnist Jim Bencivenga to…
The U.S. isn’t the only country integrating women into its submarine force. But the Bulgarian Navy’s new policy comes with a knotty Catch-22: Female sailors are suddenly welcome in the submarine service right as lawmakers decided to scrap the country’s only submarine. The sole submarine is all-but-extinct Soviet Romeo class diesel named the “Slava,” Bulgarian for “Glory.” The rust-covered boat has been inoperable for at least 10 years. Women, making up 14 percent of the Bulgarian armed forces, will be able to apply for submarines and the national guard now, as part of a larger military reform effort, the Agence France-Presse reported…
By any measure, the Royal Navy has had a rough week. In the span of three days, the Brits cut their flagship carrier, the Ark Royal, reduced their fleet to its smallest size in centuries and, now, has run its nearly $5.5 billion nuclear submarine Astute into the mud near Scotland’s Isle of Skye. Reports broke early this morning that Astute had run aground. Agence France-Presse reports: A British nuclear submarine ran aground off a Scottish island on Oct. 22, the defense ministry said, adding that there were no immediate signs of any casualties or environmental damage. HMS Astute -…
In contemporary rhetoric, one popular way to demonize political adversaries is to compare them to Hitler. That’s just what conservative former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe did at a speech at the Hudson Institute think tank on Capitol Hill last Friday. Relations between China and Japan have been rather tense of late, and the war of words seems to be heating up. Abe likened China’s naval expansion to Hitler’s idea of “lebensraum” or “living space.” It was Hitler’s belief that Germany needed and, by their superior nature, deserved space in which to grow and settle. According to Abe’s remarks: Since…
Apparently pet birds and warships don’t mix. Sailors on the British frigate Westminster discovered a parakeet (also called a budgie) fluttering around the ship while underway for an exercise near Plymouth. They named the bird Bostie and fed their new friend a meal of nuts, bread and water. Then things took a dark turn, as the Guardian reports: When a routine alarm sounded the budgerigar appeared to suffer a heart attack. Attempts to revive him failed and the crew gave their feathered friend a burial at sea. A Royal Navy spokesman said: “The executive officer found the budgie on board…
Our departed colleague Phil Ewing recently linked to a sobering Telegraph report on the enormous budget pressures facing the British fleet. Today’s Wall St. Journal takes a much cheekier view of the problem — specifically, as it relates to Britain’s apparent desire to continue funding two new STOVL-capable carriers, one already under construction, that won’t have new Brit-ready Joint Strike Fighters available to populate their decks for some years after they’re ready to go. Check out Five Uses for Spare Aircraft Carriers. Alternative No. 1, turning them into floating youth clubs, would appear to be the best option, as No.…
It’s been another busy week for the Navy. Here are seven stories in seven minutes from the past seven days that are worthy of notice: 1. Defense Bill passes HASC. This bill has tons of important stuff – far too much to put in this blog. You can check Monday’s edition of Navy Times for the complete scoop. But among the highlights is this news that lawmakers bucked the Pentagon’s 1.4 percent pay raise request, and looks to instead give service members a 1.9 percent boost. In addition, the bill aligns the 30-year shipbuilding plan with the QDR, which bodes well…
